The campaign needed to emphasise the university's diversity of thought and ideas – and the intellectual brilliance it delivers, as well as their status as a strongly academic, Russell Group university.

QMUL needed a recruitment campaign that would resonate with young people –  something that would combat the application fatigue often experienced by pre-undergrads. Primary challenges included population decline in the number of university-age students in the UK, as well as driving applications for particularly hard-to-recruit and high volume subjects.

IE's multi-channel campaign was targeted at prospective university students with good academic results, and their parents, teachers and other influencers. Success would be measured through pre-graduate Open Day attendance, and ultimately UCAS applications.

IE’s creative concept for the campaign visual identity puts real Queen Mary students front and centre, to show the many welcoming faces at the university and highlight the university’s naturally diverse population.

We created an impactful colour palette for the campaign, with the core brand colour, QMUL Blue, used throughout. The messaging uses bold typography in carefully chosen colour pairings to ensure it’s bright but legible.

Given the breadth of the challenge and short timescales before the campaign was due to launch, IE worked at great speed to deliver all the required assets. We oversaw a two-day photoshoot with students on location at QMUL, with the striking results forming the backbone of the campaign. A third day of photography, to capture pre-undergrads exploring the campus at the university’s open day, provided additional brand assets for ongoing marketing activity.

IE Brand’s work resulted in a larger-than-life recruitment campaign, running across outdoor media and a host of digital channels. We created a flexible set of bright, bold and impactful visuals, starring the students alongside with strong messaging and calls to action.

The campaign visuals were then adapted to suit more than 50 pieces of artwork and animation.

Out-of-home ads

• London buses (T-Sides and Supersides)
• Roadside 48-sheets and 96-sheets, animated digital 6 sheets – in close proximity to QMUL’s target feeder schools

Online 

• Display advertising (Skyscrapers, banners, MPUs etc.) and GDN remarketing ads
• Social media assets
• Long-form native content to promote the autumn open day, and in the lead up to the UCAS application deadline
• Total 3.5 million planned online impressions 

IE Brand created a campaign toolkit for all of the other creative partners in the roster to follow, with guidelines showing the look and feel, messaging and recommended colour combinations that form the foundation of the campaign brand.

We built a full suite of multi-purpose campaign templates for creating booklets, brochures, posters, presentations and a prospectus for pre-undergrads. And we demonstrated how the statement brand could adapt into gifs, social media and the QMUL website.

Additionally, IE provides ongoing collateral support for QMUL as needed.